


Uno

by littleweepingdalek



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, they sure are silly emotional time lords but they are my silly emotional time lords
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-05
Updated: 2020-01-05
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:15:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22127776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littleweepingdalek/pseuds/littleweepingdalek
Summary: While the fam tries to gain some good sleep in O's hut before their next day of saving earth, the Doctor agrees to keep watching out for danger. Shaken up by memories of her old friend, she is glad when the opportunity arises to distract herself by playing Uno with a new one.
Relationships: The Doctor/The Master (Doctor Who), Thirteenth Doctor/The Master (Dhawan)
Comments: 21
Kudos: 182





	Uno

**Author's Note:**

> anyways this is the master being soft for the doctor and it‘s my version of canon

It was getting dark outside, and O lit a few of his oil lamps. Atmospheric.

..Or perhaps he was used to power cuts, living so far in the Outback, and didn‘t want them to be entirely in the dark. Either way, it was considerate of him. Just as his offering his own bed to Yaz, after she had been through so much in only one day. She had declined, feeling much safer in the TARDIS. Graham accepted, though.

„You know, I don‘t feel so good being in the TARDIS now.. what if something happens out here and you need me?“

„I will take care of it,“ the Doctor promised. She didn‘t need a lot of sleep, and once more reassured her companions of that.

They were still uneasy, but eventually Graham fell asleep on the small yet comfortable bed, Ryan lying in a makeshift sleeping bag and Yaz in the TARDIS. O was rolling around in a few blankets she had gathered from the TARDIS.

All quiet, except for the Doctor.

She had been glancing at the security gear every once in a while, glancing at the screens and scanning around her with her sonic. Then her attention diverted to some things more fun, as singing old songs from her heart. First, it was ABBA songs that entertained her very much, but after a while they weren‘t human melodies anymore, and she only realized she had switched to Gallifreyan when she hit a particular line, and with it special memories.

Her heart sank back into her. Drawing her legs in, she rested her head on her knees, blew out some air.

„Are you okay, Doctor?“

O. He still had one of the blankets wrapped around his shoulders. The other one, he gave the Doctor, and sat down across from her. „Looking so grave.“

She forced a smile on her lips. „Yeah, of course. I‘m thinking about the aliens, nothing else.“

„Very well, then,“ he said, in a tone that very much said _I don‘t believe you._

And he would not. They had been texting for a long while, and he knew more about her than some of her companions had in the past. And being with him in person made it much harder for her to lie.

But she didn‘t want to tell. The past was the past.

No one needed to know about the fields they‘d ran in. They wouldn‘t know, they wouldn‘t understand.

She felt a little uncomfortable, with O seeing her so vulnerable. He noticed it, too, and quietly slipped a pack of cards out of his pockets. „You know the rules for Uno?“

„Oh, I _love_ Uno!“ Her eyes lightened up.

„Oh, I know,“ he laughed, already mixing the cards, „You said so once. In a voice message. I believe the exact wording was: ‚Sorry, I‘m always on the move. Yaz‘s mum has a job interview and we have to help her out! What I wouldn‘t give for a peaceful round of Uno...‘“

She was impressed. „You do have a remarkably good memory, O.“

He tipped his temple. „That‘s why I became a spy.“

She laughed, he handed out the cards and they began to play.

The Doctor placed a red 1. Keeping the drawing cards for later.

And so it went. In this quiet, peaceful manner they passed the time, and one game of Uno turned into many.

Sometimes, he would win. Most of the time it was her. But she couldn‘t count those as her real victories, knowing how he had proven he was extremely good himself in the first few games, and had simply dumbed down his own strategy.

„You have to stop this!“ She laughed, suddenly. „It‘s no fun if I win all the time like this. You‘re much better at playing than you want me to believe!“

„Alright. If you wish.“

Another round. And this time, he won again. Mercilessly.

The Doctor‘s mouth gaped open, barely having processed what had just happened.

„You… That was _mean_!“

„It wasn‘t!“

„Yes, it was, and don‘t you dare play like this against me again!“

He buried his face behind his new cards and chuckled. „Doctor, it was your idea! I can‘t change that I‘m that good at winning.“

„Okay, fair point. And I may then grant you the title of Uno Ma... Master.“

Her voice had faltered for a splitsecond there, and that look had entered her face again. It was obvious that the thoughts had taken her back.

Even more so for a trained spy.

His eyebrows had arched upwards, questioning her with a look.

She gulped and jumed up, leaving the blanket on the ground. „I.. will catch some fresh air, be back in a second.“ Nervously, her fingers trailed along her clothes. The memories returned, all at once. Worst of all the colony ship.

When she returned, he was still sitting where she had left him so brusquely, legs crossed and flinging cards into the air, only to catch them again.

He watched quietly as she sat down again, and didn‘t mention her sudden emotional outburst at all.

He only knew her as the Doctor, the usual cheerful figure he had been texting. He knew nothing of her personal tragedies, except for a few. He knew she had once had a student named Bill who was gone, and that Grace had passed away during her first day with the people who became her new family.

„I‘m sorry,“ she whispered, „I‘ve been through a lot, you know. But I don‘t like to talk about it.“

„I understand. We all hear noises from our past from time to time. Isn‘t it so?“

She didn‘t fully believe him, given he was human and so much younger, without all the experiences she had made throughout the years. But she appreciated the sentiment.

She smiled faintly.

He smiled back. „You have quite some friends.“ He said, nudging towards the boys and her TARDIS, „You are not alone, you know?“

She nodded slowly. „But there‘s always the feeling that there are things you can‘t share with anyone, isn‘t it?“

It sounded bitter. Wounded. As soon as the words had left her, she regretted them. She feared O‘s reaction. The Doctor. Just another person on the verge of crying. Not the woman he had known her to be.

O sighed. And then, he bent forward and planted a kiss on her cheek.

She blushed, frozen, unable to respond in any conceivable way.

_Why did he…_

She looked back at him, paused just inches from her face, his own gaze scrutinizing hers. As if he waited for an answer, or something other. But she remained still.

He leant back, smiled softly, and heaved himself up from the floors.

„Good night, Doctor. I should catch a break before tomorrow. And you should, too.“

**Author's Note:**

> glad i have this out of my system now. oh boy spyfall will end me, won't it?


End file.
